Mega Oreos, Ritter Sports Chocolate Towers and more vegan food news of the week

It seems like every week the news in the vegan food world is more exciting than the last and this week is no exception. Vegan brand Daring Foods is gearing up for the new year with a new flavor of its realistic vegan chicken. Authentic Italian pizza company Talia di Napoli just launched its first vegetarian pizza—complete with Italian-sourced vegan mozzarella cheese. And a new accidentally vegan, and very meta, most Oreo Oreo, is here Read on for more.

1Daring’s Teriyaki Plant-Based Chicken

With Lizzo on in her appearance hot ones And its headline campaign with Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, vegan company Daring Foods had quite the year 2022.

The company’s new teriyaki plant-based chicken pieces have the same realistic chicken texture without the bird and a new flavor profile characterized by notes of garlic and ginger. The new teriyaki flavors are available at retailers such as Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions, Safeway, Jewel Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Carr’s and Tom Thumbs.

brave food

The company’s new flavor continues its bold mission to eliminate the need to absorb chicken by offering delectable plant-based options that can be used as one-for-one swaps.

“It’s important for us to set a high standard and continue to introduce products that we feel provide the same experience as free range chickens,” Ross McKay, Brave founder and CEO, told VegNews.

“We hope that consumers will brave the plant-based category and realize how easy and delicious it is to eat a more plant-based diet,” he says.

Daring offers its vegan chicken Original Plant Chicken Pieces, Cajun Plant Chicken Pieces, Lemon & Herb Plant Chicken Pieces, Breaded Plant Chicken Pieces and Fresh Plant Chicken Tenders.

2Meatless Chorizo ​​at Taco Del Mar

This week, Pacific Northwest-based chain Taco Del Mar — which operates 100 locations in the U.S. and Canada — added a new vegetarian protein option to its menu: spicy chorizo ​​hash.

Sea Tacos

Made with plant-based chorizo, diced potatoes, diced onions and serrano peppers, the new vegan protein can be ordered at no additional cost as part of an entrée at participating Taco Del Mar locations for a limited time.

“At Taco Del Mar we prioritize guest satisfaction and menu innovation to offer ingredients that suit everyone while delivering our signature Baja flavors,” Mike Geissman, Taco Del Mar’s vice president of culinary and innovation, said in a statement.

“Our guests will love this adventurous new ingredient that meshes perfectly with our extensive menu as a protein choice and offers an exciting new dining experience without sacrificing taste or quality,” he said.

The chain’s other vegan options include tortillas, rice, beans, homemade salsas and guacamole.

3Authentic Italian Vegan Pizza

While we’ll happily report any type of pizza as long as it’s available as vegetarian, you know which type of pizza is the best? The kind Italians make in Italy, with a thin, crispy crust and a simple, yet perfect, flavor profile.

That’s why we’re excited about the recent launch of Talia di Napoli’s Frozen Vegan Margherita Pizza. How authentic are they? Well, each of these pies is handcrafted by trained pizzaiolo in Naples using a sourdough crust topped with a signature pomodoro sauce, fresh basil and a vegan mozzarella (made with cashews and almonds) sourced locally from Italy.

Talia of Naples

Eduard Freda, founder and CEO of Talia di Napoli, said in a statement, “We’ve been sitting on launching a vegan margherita for years.” “Even though we knew it was an important pizza, we had to make sure we got a plant-based mozzarella that matched the quality of the rest of our ingredients, which took some time.”

“We finally found an Italian supplier of the best vegan ‘mozzarella’ we’ve ever eaten and knew we finally had what we needed to launch the vegan pizza we’d all been waiting for,” he said.

Talia di Napoli’s new pizzas — its first vegetarian pizza offering — are available via its website in packs of six for $120 or eight for $144.

4Ritter Sport’s Chocolate Tower

German confectionery brand Ritter Sport was one of the first major companies to enter vegan milk chocolate in 2017 when it launched two flavors—Dark Whole Hazelnuts Amaranth and Dark Almond Quinoa—made with hazelnut cream instead of dairy.

Since then, the company has been working hard to create additional vegetarian offerings and sales of its dairy-free products at the resort have more than doubled since 2018. This March, Ritter Sport is delving deeper into the world of vegan chocolate with a global launch. TRE Vegan Tower—A specialty pack of five bars in three flavor assortments.

Ritter Sport

“When you eat chocolate, you want to enjoy it. Really enjoy it, with full flavor,” Nicole Miltenberger, Ritter Sport’s marketing manager global travel retail, said in a statement. “We’ve worked extremely hard to ensure that our TRE Vegan Tower will offer consumers exactly that, we believe the combination of the three varieties will have the greatest appeal to travelers.”

TRE Tower features Ritter Sport’s existing Smooth Chocolate flavor and two new flavors: Roasted Peanut and Salted Caramel.

“Vegan is here to stay and a growing number of consumers—and therefore travelers—are looking for versions of familiar products that meet their dietary preferences, whatever they may be,” says Miltenberger.

The launch of the new chocolate format is a way for Ritter to capitalize on a category it projects will continue to grow. “Chocolate is definitely a key product in the vegan sphere and we’re seeing that six out of 10 consumers are willing to increase their consumption of vegan or vegetarian confectionery—a trend that will continue to grow as global consumer demand continues to grow,” Miltenberger said. “Therefore, it made sense to expand our travel retail offering, not only with a vegan offering, but also with an exclusive with Chanel to further appeal.”

5Get meta with OREO’s Vegan Cookies

What’s better than an OREO and (vegan) milk? What about an OREO stuffed inside an OREO? Incidentally this is the idea behind the new flavor of vegan cookies. The limited-edition The Most Oreo Oreo Cookie features a classic cookie shell filled with the most creamy filling of any Oreo cookie, flavored with Oreo cookie bits. Talk about meta.

OREO

“OREO MAXIMUM OREO Sandwich Cookies are the classic, original snack cookies you’ve always known and loved, but with an unforgettable twist of Cookies-N-Cream flavor cream you never knew you wanted,” the company describes the new flavor. “These cookies and cream flavored OREO cookies are full of themselves. Literally.”

To complement the release of its new Super-Stuffed OREOs, the company launched a virtual “Oreovers” in the Metaverse where fans can explore a world of six OREO-themed games, mazes and puzzles for a chance to win prizes. including $50,000.

OREO

To promote its new cookies and virtual world, OREO partnered with lifestyle guru Martha Stewart and her friend and gardener Ryan McCallister. “I’m excited to make my Metaverse debut in partnership with my favorite cookie brand, OREO, and it’ll be even more fun to have Ryan there with me,” Stewart said in a statement. “We’ve both had our fair share of adventures over the last 10 years and we’ve been able to navigate almost everything together, especially in the garden.”